Onwards And (...hopefully) Upwards!!!

So where do we go from here? After waving cheerio to our fourth manager in just two-and-a-half years the Pars once again find ourselves back at square one…only this time, however, square one is a few thousand paces back from it was the last time we were managerless!

Stephen Kenny had to go, simple as. No doubt debate will rage over this subject but his record and decision-making reeked of incompetence and of a manager, and a man, who was unable to turn the screw and rescue this club from the mire. I've no doubt Kenny will benefit from this experience, he's still only 36 years-old - a managerial infant when you consider that the press and fellow managers have, in recent weeks, been referring to 48-year-old Alex McLeish as a 'young' gaffer - and has many, many managerial years ahead of him. In my opinion Kenny has the makings of a very decent manager and I genuinely believe this will prove to be the case in the years to come. But at this stage of his career, and considering the current mess at East End, this job was a step too far for the Irishman and, to be honest, he looked increasingly out of his depth. No hard feelings to the guy. All the best and thanks for the cup-run memories, but its time to move on..

Jim McIntyre. Now believe me I've been wrong about this kinda thing many times in the past - and no doubt will be many times in the future - but I, for one, don't see any prospect of this appointment turning into a permanent one anytime soon. The guy has experience, an excellent reading of the game - when on the park at least - and enough football knowledge to wrestle a few points from the next game or two. Of that I've no doubt. It was a shock when the news came through of his appointment yesterday but, considering the amount of shite posted by certain keyboard warriors regarding pish about Robertson/Thomson et al, I feel it's a sensible decision in the short term. But at this stage in his career he is undoubtedly not the long-term answer. So who does that leave us with to take us forward and make the mighty DAFC rise again? No doubt the west-coast media fannies will have their usual field-day with 'possible' managers and throw up a long list of names of ex, and current, old firm players who are looking to cut their managerial teeth at the 'wee Fife club'. Expect the names Pressley, McNamara, Lennon, Ferguson, Gough any many others to enter the frame in the coming days. Others that have 'entered' the frame over the last 12 hours or so include Davie Irons, Stevie Frail, John McGlynn, Dave Baikie, Graham Rix (!?!!!) and Lubo Moravcik. Back in the real world, away from the bullshit towers of the Record and the Sun, it would appear as though a few candidates in particular are cropping up more than others. Namely, John Robertson and Dick Campbell.

Are Robertson or Campbell the right men for the job? I've said before and I'll say again, I honestly don't know. I certainly wouldn't be staunchly against either getting the job. I've always liked John Robertson as a manager, he's a passionate geezer and despite a couple of setbacks - being treated like Lithuanian dog-shite by Romanov and a piss-poor First Division campaign with Livi - he's proven he has what it takes. Similarly, The Bunnet would undoubtedly get the Pars playing for the jersey, fighting and scrapping for every single ball, the football would be as ugly as your average howfer from Kirkcaldy but he'd get results. With Campbell, however, I would only see it as a short-term appointment - until the end of the season at most - as I doubt he has the foresight or required tactical ability to make us a top-flight force in the long term. Just for the record my personal choice for the gaffer's role at East End would be either Allan Moore or Ian McCall. Both are, in my opinion, talented youngish managers, both have a pair of cahones, both are confident in their ability, both have done well with a bunch of average players…and lets be honest, both are are probably out of our price range so that's out of the question.

As mentioned yesterday in my article about Kenny - posted ten minutes before he was sacked by the way… surely either the greatest rallying call to the board from any fan of all time or a waste of ma fuckin' time and effort!! - the new manager of the Pars, whoever that may be, needs to get some serious arses kicked. The club needs turned upside down, all the pish, fungi and residue tipped out of it, rinsed out, turned back the right side up and ready to go again! Nothing is more clear. This club is a mess and has been for some time. And, yes I wanted Kenny out but the players are far from blameless. Too many of these players have waltzed around East End Park in recent years picking up inflated salaries and living off past 'glories'. The first thing a new manager needs to do is end this 'SPL player' culture. We're not going up, simple as, and therefore the players we do have at the club on apparent 'SPL wages' should be offered a clear 'take it or fuck off in January' wage drop to First Division standards before this club implodes financially as well as on the park! We need to start preparing for the future and the future clearly does not involve SPL-level wages. The future should also not involve a group of players quite clearly stuck in a losing mentality mindset. A large majority of these players have been involved in relegation scraps in recent years - be it with us or others - and seem to have forgotten what its like to string a set of wins together, defeat is depressingly all too commonplace for these players. Hindsight's a tremendous thing but I said at the start of the season that we should have used whatever money we had at the time to pick out a few of the lower divisions top players, players that would have been in a winning mindset and playing with confidence. These would be players who wouldn't command the biggest wage in the world and, although not the best players in the world, would be laden with potential and a will to fight and scrap for their wages and, more importantly, for their club!

All this would come before the manager, if in it for the long haul, would have to look at various other critical areas of the club which needs surgery. The main, and most obvious, area being the youth setup. Lets face it, apart from Greg Ross and possibly Nicky Phinn, what other players have come through the ranks at East End that look like they could command a place in the team for years to come? Some have come through, been released, and forged decent careers in the lower divisions but none have looked anything like destined for the top. In the days where we are seeing more and more wee wannabee neds strutting about Dunfermline high street with their Rangers and Celtic shirts on it is vital that our youth set up becomes a haven for the best young footballers that Dunfermline and Fife has to offer. Hosts of youngsters have slipped - although some would say 'blatantly walked' - through the net in recent years. I could name many but the mention of one Hill Of Beath boy would probably be enough..Scott Brown!! Now I'm under no illusions that if Brown had come through the ranks at East End that he'd still be here, strutting his stuff alongside Simmons and Owen Morrison in the Pars midfield, but you can bet the purse strings would have benefited big time. And as much as it pains me to say it, we have to be a selling club if we are rise as a force in Scottish football again. A dedicated youth scouting setup and coaching setup for kids from 8-18 would be a definate start. But that's a priority for the future, there are far more pressing matters to deal with in the present!

So, whoever gets the job, a lot of work lies ahead. A fuckin' shitload of work in fact. Whoever's in charge this Saturday and beyond, be it McIntyre, Campbell, Robertson, Moravcik, Mourinho or even Tony fuckin Blair, I'll be there tanked up on bevvy and ready to support the Pars. As will many. But the new manager, who must be given free reign to bring in his own players and coaching staff - and by that don't lump me in with the 'Craig Robertson is source of all evil' morons - has arrived at a crossroads in the Pars history. Big changes are needed to take this club forward, massive changes, changes which, if made, could ever so gradually help this club perform the u-turn which we so desperately need.